Soul Reaver 2

Published by Sold Out Software
Developed by Crystal Dynamics
Platform: PC CD-ROM
Released - Out Now
Price : £4.99

The Legacy of Kain series has provided many games over the last few years and one of the better ones is Soul Reaver 2. In the Soul Reaver games you control Raziel, instead of Kain, but besides this difference you still have a third person action game that contains more than its fair share of hack 'n' slash gameplay with a sprinkling of simple puzzles here and there.

Once again the game is set in Nosgoth but this time you get to time travel a bit and visit Nosgoth in different ages. Raziel is out to get Kain for the way he has treated him. What stops the game from being anything great is the fact that it's very repetitive. Those who like endless hack 'n' slash experiences will be well catered for but if you would rather employ thought rather than quick reflexes it could get boring quickly. In its favour though it still looks great and runs like a dream on a half-decent system.

Soul Reaver 2 isn't exactly deaf gamer friendly. There are lots of cutscenes in the game and unfortunately there are no subtitles for these. It's not all bad news though. You can access the Dark Chronicle, from the in game menu, that allows you to read the dialogue from the cutscenes. Basically then, you'll watch a cutscene and then be able to read about it in the Dark Chronicle. It's not an ideal solution but it does enable you to follow the plot. The tutorial messages, that appear from time to time, are shown in text.

Recommendation: If you like hack 'n' slash gameplay with the odd simple puzzle then you'll probably enjoy Soul Reaver 2.

Suitability for deaf gamers: The cutscenes are not subtitled but you can access the dialogue from them in the Dark Chronicle.

Overall Game Rating: 3.0/5